Page 64 of Faerie Trials

Magic radiated from me, fueled by the fury I’d been masking under a guise of pity. The ground beneath the armor began to shake and shudder.

I shouldn’t let myself get worked up because it wouldn’t do any good. I should put those feelings away and focus on pushing through and dealing with it later.

It was always later, though, wasn’t it?

But something twisted inside of me and the magic filled every cell, every pore, threatening to ricochet out and spill onto everything around me.

This time, I thought, I didn’t want to pull the magic back. I didn’t want my anger and my pain to collapse in on itself when I stuffed it away.

And despite the pain, I pushed through. I laid my hand on the armor’s hollow shoulder to urge it forward. One step at a time, it crossed the river without issue and the tenuous cord binding me to this spell began to grow. To surge. To strengthen to the point where I knew no matter what I did today, it wouldn’t stop until I wanted it to.

I held my magic to me, imagining it like the sun. A swirling circle of endless energy with no beginning and no end. It was my birthright.

I remembered the day Juno set me on that practice trial, her words to me. I remembered the tiny flicker I’d managed and the way my strength flagged no matter how hard I’d tried.

It’s your internal fortitude. You’re doubting yourself and it’s not allowing your magic to manifest to its fullest potential.

How many times had I held myself back because of doubt? Because I didn’t feel safe being myself?

With the sun spell, I’d needed the connection to the earth. I’d thought if I drew what I could from the land itself, it would be enough. I didn’t realizeIwas the source.Iwas the connection to the land through my blood and where I’d come from.

I refuse to let you use your halfling status as an excuse anymore. I’ve felt the level of power inside of you, Tavi. This is not the time for excuses nor is it the time to doubt yourself. You have as much power as any of the students you go to school with, no matter what you think. Now focus.

She’d instructed me to call down the sun and hold it for as long as possible. What I hadn’t understood at the time was that it wasn’t the power of the sun—it was the power ofme. My power. My magic. And now I must find the same kind of mental and physical endurance.

Juno was right. That was my first thought when I pulled myself up by the bootstraps and conquered that plateau, pushed through the boundary. And it was as if a dam keeping the majority of my magic in check had burst. She’d been right about more lurking beneath the surface. More power than I knew what to do with, and I’d been afraid of it my whole life.

No more flickering light. No more doubting my energy and trying to bear down to force something to happen. Now it came to me easily.

And not long after, I crossed the finish line. I could finally tune in to the cheers and howls and applause. Not just a finisher. One of the top few.

“Tavi! Oh my God! Oh my God,you did it!”

Melia’s voice reached me and at last the suit of armor halted and lowered its arms, allowing me to slip from its grasp. I wasn’t feeling the cold when my friend grabbed me and tugged me into a lung-squashing hug.

From over Melia’s shoulder I saw another figure coming through the woods. A second suit of armor. This one carried the golden-haired prince on its shoulders.

No matter how we’d ended things between us the other day, nothing could stop me from holding out my hand to him. And amidst the screaming crowd chanting his name, Mike came to me, hugging both Melia and me at the same time.

“You guys!” she was saying. “You’re in the top finishers. You’re in thetop!” Her voice ended in a screech and I allowed myself a moment of rare and surprising joy. I howled with her. I jumped up and down surrounded by two of my best friends in the world. I sank myself into the moment because the small voice in the back of my head told me to savor it while I could.

“Well done, you two.” A familiar voice chuckled dryly near us and when I glanced over I saw Headmaster Cyrus staring at us with a small smile. His one milky blue eye still freaked me out, but I returned the smile. “Very well done,” he said. “You can take your places with the rest of the top winners.”

“It’s fine. I’ll catch up with you later. You can tell me everything.” Melia rubbed a circle on my back and bid goodbye to Mike.

There were only five other students who’d managed to cross the finish line so far. Mike grabbed my hand and we joined the others, Arlyss among them. It was the best mood I’d been in for days. Must be, because I wasn’t even annoyed to see Arlyss’s smug face.

“Well done,” Arlyss said. Mostly to Mike. But I caught the way his gaze flicked to me. “What sort of magic did you work?”

We circled up and compared notes. Mike still held my hand. I didn’t know much about being happy these days, but I figured it must look like this. It had to.

Minutes passed until Headmaster Cyrus stepped into the middle of the clearing, clapping his weathered brown hands for attention. “Students! Your ears to me, please. Attention, everyone!”

It took precious seconds to get our excitement to quiet long enough to hear him.

“Everyone please return to your homes immediately.”

Mike’s fingers tightened around mine.

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